Apollo Tyres ‘has no intention’ of entering Kumho acquisition race

Apollo Tyres has denied reports published in India’s Economic Times suggesting that it is about to enter the race to acquire Kumho Tire. An Apollo spokesperson told Tyres & Accessories: “Apollo Tyres strongly denies the story headlined ‘Apollo Back in Kumho Race as Geopolitics Sours China Deal’ that appeared in the print edition of The Economic Times on 2 October, 2017. The company would like to reiterate that it has no intention of making any attempts to enter the process of acquiring Kumho Tyres, as stated in the story.”

The report is prompted by prospective buyer Qingdao Doublestar’s late request for a discount of 13 per cent to the KRW 955 billion (£650.3 million) price tag the companies had previously agreed for a 42.01 per cent stake in the company. The Doublestar deal had also run afoul of political authorities, who are reticent to hand control of Kumho, a supplier to South Korean military, to a Chinese company with heightened tensions on the Korean peninsula.